Each day, humans may produce upwards of 30 milliliters of sputum, which is a type of bronchial secretion. Normally, an effective cough is sufficient to loosen secretions and clear them from the body's airways. However, for individuals suffering from more significant bronchial obstructions, such as collapsed airways, a single cough may be insufficient to clear the obstructions.
OPEP therapy represents an effective bronchial hygiene technique for the removal of bronchial secretions in the human body and is an important aspect in the treatment and continuing care of patients with bronchial obstructions, such as those suffering from chronic obstructive lung disease. It is believed that OPEP therapy, or the oscillation of exhalation pressure at the mouth during exhalation, effectively transmits an oscillating back pressure to the lungs, thereby splitting open obstructed airways and loosening the secretions contributing to bronchial obstructions. The benefits of OPEP therapy include decrease in sputum viscoelasticity, increase in forces disconnecting sputum from airway passages, and increase in sputum expectoration.
OPEP therapy is an attractive form of treatment because it can be easily taught to most patients, and such patients can assume responsibility for the administration of OPEP therapy throughout a hospitalization and also from home. To that end, a number of portable OPEP devices have been developed.
Like OPEP therapy, RMT has been shown to improve lung hygiene in both healthy individuals and patients with a variety of lung diseases. RMT includes pressure threshold resistance, which requires a user to achieve and maintain a set pressure during inhalation or exhalation, and flow resistance, which restricts the flow of air during inhalation or exhalation. The benefits of RMT include increased respiratory muscle strength, reduced dyspnea (breathlessness), increased exercise performance, and improved quality of life.
Like OPEP therapy, RMT is an attractive form of treatment because it can be easily taught to most patients, and such patients can assume responsibility for the administration of RMT therapy throughout a hospitalization and also from home.
In this regard, there is a need for a single device that performs both OPEP therapy and RMT, while maintaining the performance of individual devices that deliver only OPEP therapy or only RMT.